• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (January 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591844649
• ISBN-13: 978-1591844648

Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets, but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make.

As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon — the distance between what we should do and what we actually do — "the behavior gap." Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better.

Richards's way with words and images has attracted a loyal following to his blog posts for The New York Times, appearances on National Public Radio, and his columns and lectures. His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind.

Review

"Who says common sense is common? Smart, tactical, practical advice for anyone who has done dumb things with their money."

—Seth Godin, author of We Are All Weird

For the last 15 years, Carl Richards has been writing and drawing about the relationship between emotion and money to help make investing easier for the average investor. Carl is Buckingham's director of investor education. His sketches can be found at BehaviorGap.com, and he also contributes to The New York Times Bucks blog and Morningstar Advisor.